Crossing Paths: Destiny or Chance?
by 23a
Summary: It's unclear what happened after Kate, Claire, Sawyer, Miles, Richard, and Lapidus left the island on the Ajira plane. Well, as it turned out, they touched down in Maine - right near a town called Storybrooke. Crazy things ensue and everyone begins to question: Was this because of destiny or chance?
1. Where did it land?

Claire had had enough. Three years on an island without her son, Aaron. Kate had raised him. Almost everyone she'd cared about had died, and she'd gone insane - literally. At least she'd escaped on the Ajira plane though, right? Well, not really. The plane landed in the middle of Maine, right near some town called Storybrooke. And there was some _really _weird stuff there - including a woman who looked a lot like Claire. But that was the least of their problems. There was magic and beasts and curses and a lot of other stuff that Claire thought only existed in fairytales. It all started when they met that boy - Henry.

**...**

"Um... guys? Does anyone know where we are?", Lapidus asked.

"You're the pilot!", Claire pointed out.

"Yeah, but the navigation system got messed up, so I'm kind of flying randomly."

"I think Ajira's going to fire you", Miles stated matter-of-factly.

"Miles, that is the least of our problems", Kate said.

"Kate's right", Richard interjected.

"She usually is", said Sawyer.

"Seriously, though. Do any of your know where we are?"

"I think we're over a forest", Miles observed.

"Miles?", said Kate.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

"Guys..."

"What now, Lapidus?"

"We're almost out of fuel. I've got to land."

"Great."

Lapidus landed the plane in a clearing, and they got out to explore the area. After a while they found a sign saying "Welcome to Storybrooke". They entered the small town, and most people didn't look twice at them. Then a young boy walked up to them and said,

"Hi. You look lost. You new in town?"

"Yeah."

"What are your names."

"I'm Kate, and this is Miles, Richard, Frank, Claire, and James."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Henry."


	2. Really Weird Introductions

Emma ran up behind her son. He had already started talking to a group of strangers. Why, why did Henry have to be so curious?

"Henry, who are these people?"

"Kate, Claire, James, Miles, Frank, and Richard", said Henry, gesturing to each as he spoke. "They're new in town."

"New? I thought outsiders couldn't get in to the town."

"Well, I guess that ended when the curse broke."

Claire spoke up. "I'm sorry. Did you say _curse_?"

"Yes", said Emma, "These people were all cursed, but I broke the curse."

"And who are you?"

"I'm Emma Swan. But I think you're more familiar with my parents - Snow White and Prince Charming."

"You're - you're kidding, right?", asked Kate.

"Nope."

"What do we do?", asked Henry.

"I guess... we should take them to Gold."

"Gold?"

"Mr. Gold. His real name is Rumpelstiltskin."

"Sure it is", said Sawyer.

"Let's go."

**...**

They stopped outside Gold's shop. Kate wasn't sure whether these people were crazy or not, but along the way Emma had made sure to point out that she was the Sheriff. Not much opportunity to argue there. Kate wasn't interested in going to prison. Again.

"I just realized a problem", said Emma.

"What?", asked Claire.

"You look just like Gold's girlfriend."

"Rumpelstiltskin has a girlfriend?"

"Yeah. Her name is Belle. And she looks just like you, but with brown hair."

"Oh. Weird."

"Yeah. They might think so too."

"If what you're saying is true, they're probably used to weird."

"Fair enough."

They entered the shop.

**...**

Belle was sick of people always entering the shop. Closed means closed. She looked at the door, and realized the shop was actually open. But it didn't matter. Emma probably would have come in anyway. She had Henry with her, and some strangers. Belle guessed the strangers were why she was there. She looked them over, and gasped when she got to a blonde woman standing near the back. The woman looked just like her.

"What?", asked Rumple, irritated. Belle didn't like it when he spoke in that tone, though she was irritated too.

"Some new people just came to town."

"What?"

"Look, we... we just want to leave."

"And tell the world about us?"

"What, about that magic crap?"

"Oh... yeah, you can go."

"Wait, so it is real?"

"Yes", Rumple said, irritated again.

"I just want to get back to LA so I can see my son", said the woman who looked just like Belle.

"You have a son?", asked Rumple.

"Aaron. I haven't seen him since he was a baby. Kate took over for me."

"Who's Kate?"

"That's me", said the woman behind her, "And that's Claire, Miles, James, Richard, and Frank."

"I'm Belle."

"Rumpelstiltskin."

"So... can we leave?"

"Not now that you know about magic."


	3. Getting Kinda Akward

"Okay. Look. We won't tell anyone about your magic", Sawyer said.

"Why should I believe you?", asked Rumpelstiltskin.

"Because we just want to get home!"

Emma butted in. "Can Henry and I leave? We're pretty useless here."

"Well you're the sheriff!"

"Fair enough."

At that moment, Neal walked into the room.

"Oh, hi Neal. Can you take Henry? I have to deal with... this."

"Why is there a woman who looks just like Belle?"

"We don't know. All we know about her is that her name is Claire and she has a son named Aaron."

"Who's the father?"

"I don't know, I didn't ask!"

"Aaron's father is a jerk who abandoned me when I was pregnant, even though he's the one who convinced me to go through with it", said Claire.

"Oh, abandoning a pregnant woman. Sound familiar, Neal?"

"I didn't know you were pregnant!"

"Eww", said Henry, "Can we, like, not talk about how I was created?"

"Okay, enough", said Kate. "Just let us leave!"

"No! You know about magic!"

"We won't tell!"

"I don't believe you!", said Rumple.

"Okay. Neal, take Henry."

"Why do you get to order him around?"

"Why do you care?"

"Because he's my son."

"Wow, this is awkward", said Miles, "I'm just going to leave."

"Stay!"

"Whoa, hold up", said Emma, "let's at least give them somewhere to stay."

They booked them six rooms at Granny's, and agreed to leave the matter alone until the next day.


	4. Deals

"Let us leave!", said Kate.

"No!", said Rumpelstiltskin.

"We'll give you anything you want!"

"I wouldn't do that", said Neal.

"Do what?", asked Sawyer.

"Make a deal with my father."

"Why?"

"Just... don't."

"Don't worry. I used to be a con man. He can't trick me."

"Yes he can."

"Just... stay out of it."

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

"What do you want?"

"Nothing. You can't leave."

"Why?"

"You'll tell the world about magic!"

"Why the hell would we do that?"

"Why wouldn't you?"

"The same reason we won't tell anyone about the island!". Kate whipped her head around and looked at him, begging him to shut up.

"What island?"

"No island. I don't know why I said that."

"Tell you what", Emma negotiated. "If you tell us about this 'island', we'll tell you everything about our town."

"What? No!", said Rumpelstiltskin.

"I'm the Sheriff, I decide."

"Alright", said Miles, "It's a deal".

Rumpelstiltskin didn't seem happy about it, but finally he conceded. "Fine. I guess it's a deal."

**A/N: Please review! I need to know whether or not to actually continue this story!**


	5. Tell Me Everything

"So... this island. What is it?"

"Um... an island", said Miles

Emma gave him a look. "Funny. You know that's not what I meant."

"Well", Kate began, "Me, James, and Claire were all passengers on Oceanic 815."

"Oceanic 815?"

"It was a plane. It crashed. On an island. A very strange island. With, like, smoke monsters and immortality and very bright lights."

"OK..."

"And, 48 people survived the crash, though many died during the three months we lived together."

"Three months?"

"Approximately. Anyway, eventually, six of us found rescue."

"Six... you six?"

"No. A, you call this rescue? B, Miles, Richard, and Frank weren't even on the plane."

"OK, go on."

"Well, before we were rescued, we found a guy named Desmond who pushed a button every 108 minutes to save the world."

"Save the world?"

"Some electromagnetic thing... I'm not sure, exactly. But, anyway, there was also this crazy French lady who's science team had crashed in a boat. She killed them all because she though they were... infected. And there were people in the tail section of the plane, but a lot of them were taken by the Others, who were this other civilization on the island that we didn't know much about. They kidnapped Claire, apparently to save her baby because pregnant women die on the island. And then Aaron was born... and Sun got pregnant..."

"Who's Sun?"

"A Korean woman who was on the plane. She's dead now, along with the rest of the plane. Only 6 people from Oceanic 815 are still alive. Anyway, stuff happened, and we met the leader of the others, Ben, and Locke, one of the 815 passengers, became an other. Desmond, a while earlier, had imploded the hatch, and he could see the future. He saw a woman parachuting onto the island, and he thought it was his girlfriend Penny. It wasn't, though, it was a woman named Naomi, who it turned out had been sent by Penny's evil father, Charles Widmore."

"Wow, this is getting weird."

"Yeah... Anyway, Widmore sent a boat, which Miles and Frank were on."

"OK... so who's the other guy?"

I'm Richard. Many years ago - over a century, in fact - I was on a ship called the Black Rock, which crashed on the island. I met Jacob, who was in charge of the island, and he made me immortal. I became the adviser to the leader of the people they called 'Others'."

"OK... anyway, back to your story."

"Right. So, we wanted to be rescued. Daniel Faraday, who was on the boat, started bringing people to and from it. Meanwhile, Frank flew some men in a helicopter who wanted to kidnap Ben and kill everyone else on the island. They had already blown up the place where the Others had used to live, where Locke and some others, including Claire and James, were living. They had killed nearly everyone, including Ben's 'adopted' daughter, Alex. I use the word adopted, but really he kidnapped her."

"So, who survived?"

"Locke, Ben, Hurley, Miles, Claire, James, and Aaron."

"That's it?"

"Yeah. So, Locke and Ben wanted to find Jacob, and they made Hurley go with them. They learned that they had to move the island. Meanwhile, Claire walked off and left Aaron behind, so James and Miles, after failing to find her, started heading back to the beach. Frank had dropped a receiver on the beach telling us to follow the helicopter, so Jack and I did, then we met up with James and Miles. I took Aaron back, and James went with Jack. I then saw Sayid returning from the boat, where he and Desmond had been, so I handed Aaron to Sun and went with Sayid to find James and Jack. After making a deal with the Others, we helped Ben escape, and they let us go on the helicopter. Jack and James had gone and retrieved Hurley, so we all got on the helicopter. On the way to the boat, it was running out of gas, and, uh... James jumped, so we could get to the boat. When we landed, we learned from Desmond that there was a bomb. He, Sun, and Aaron got on the helicopter, and we went to fly back to the island. But they had moved the island, so we crashed in the water. Luckily, Penny was coming on a boat and rescued us. Sun, Sayid, Jack, Hurley, Aaron and I got back to the real world, where we lied to protect the people we left behind. I raised Aaron. After 3 years, Locke came and told us we needed to go back. Jack believed, and somehow convinced everyone else. Locke apparently killed himself. We went back to the island, and Jack, Hurley and I ended up in 1977, reuniting with the few who remained. Many had died in the elapsed time. As it turned out, they'd been jumping through time, and everyone else had died in 1954. Sayid was in 1977 too, but he came later, and they had to treat him like a prisoner. Aaron was - is, actually - in LA with Claire's mother -"

"My mother? But she was in a coma."

"Well, she's not anymore. Anyway, Aaron was in LA and Sun was in the present day. We were inducted into the Dharma Initiative, a research organization that was on the island in the 70's and 80's. We tried to change the future but failed, and we ended up back in the present day. We teamed up with the Others - and with Widmore - to fight the black smoke thingy. It tried to sink the island, using Desmond to unplug the cork thingy making the bright light, but then Jack re-plugged it... and died. Hurley, Ben, Desmond, Rose, and Bernard stayed on the island. We don't know what happened to them.

"That is a very unrealistic story."

"Says miss daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming."

"Fair enough."

"Now, tell us your story."

"OK, well, I think you mean their's. I was just a foster kid, and later a bail bonds-person in Boston. So, all the fairytales are real, and interconnected. And twisted from the book version. After the Evil Queen, a.k.a. my kid Henry's adoptive mother, found out that my dad woke my mom from the sleeping curse, and they got married, she made plans to cast a Dark Curse that would rip them from their land, the Enchanted Forest, and take them to a horrible place with no happy endings."

"Here?"

"Yes. Here. This world, that is. Time was frozen, and for 28 years they didn't age, which is why I'm around the same age as my parents."

"Weird..."

"Yeah... anyway, they also didn't remember who they were, until I broke the curse by giving Henry true love's kiss, which broke him from a sleeping curse that was the same as the one used on my mother. Even the same apple, in fact."

"And... Henry's father... Is Rumpelstiltskin's son?"

"Yeah. Like I said, all the fairytales are interconnected."

"Wow. Well, anyway, now that you know about the island, and that we can keep secrets, can we go?"

"Hmm... I'll think about it."


	6. Let Them Go?

"So?", asked Rumpelstiltskin.

"It's a long story. And I think it was the abridged version. To sum it up, there was a strange island with weird likely magical properties, a lot of their friends died, and they can keep a secret, because they didn't tell anyone about the island the first time they left it."

"And... what did you tell them about us?"

"The ultra, ultra, ultra abridged version."

"Which is..."

"All the fairytales are real but interconnected and Regina cast a curse to get revenge on my mom that brought everyone to a land where all their happy endings were stolen and time was frozen and I broke the curse with true love's kiss on Henry."

"That is quite abridged."

"Yeah. So... are we going to let them go?"

"Miss Swan, has it occurred to you that these people were brought here for a reason?"

"Their plane ran out of fuel."

"Maybe it was destiny?"

"What is it with you and destiny?"

"Everything happens for a reason, dearie."

"Maybe it was chance?"

"No. Didn't you notice that one woman who looks just like Belle?"

"Coincidence?"

"What is it with you and coincidence?"

Emma gave him a look. "Come on, just let them go."

"Not yet."

At that moment, Kate walked in. "Um, we were wondering if we could go."

"Working on it", said Emma. "He's spouting some crap about how coming here was your destiny."

At the word destiny, Kate seemed to become terrified.

"What?"

"We were told the island was our destiny... all the horrible things that happened... Jack died because he though it was his destiny."

"Well... I don't speak destiny."

"Neither did I."


	7. I Don't Speak Destiny

**A/N: I'm doing a new thing where I will update weekly, unless I get a favorite/follow, in which case I will update within 3 days, or I get a review, in which case I will update by the next day. Is that good enough motivation? No? Well if I get both at once (not necessarily from the same person), I will update within 2 hours of being notified.**

Belle didn't understand why Claire looked so much like her. They were from entirely different worlds. But she liked Claire, and had somewhat become friends with her in the 2 days since the group had arrived. Rumple was repeatedly questioning Claire and the others, but they managed to pass the interrogation every time. Belle really wished Rumple would just let them go home, because that was all they wanted, but he insisted that it was their destiny to come to Storybrooke. This slightly angered Belle, as she believed that no one should decide someone's destiny but them. But no matter what she said, Rumple wouldn't let them leave.

**...**

"I told you, I don't speak destiny", Emma said, irritated.

"Well, dearie, you heard that woman."

"Kate?"

"Yes, her. She said that it was her destiny to go to that island, and that it led her to believe in destiny."

"It's a self-fulfilling thing. She believed it was her destiny, so she made it happen. Just let them go!"

"No!"

**...**

"Do you trust them?", asked Sawyer.

"Yeah. That Belle girl is really nice", said Claire.

"She looks exactly like you!"

"So?"

Emma walked in.

"What'd he say?", asked Kate.

"What do you think?"

"Why can't he just let us leave?"

"Because he thinks being here is your destiny. And... he's crazy. But I've got a plan."

"What."

"Below the library, there's a monster."

"What?!"

"Long story. Anyway, if you defeat it, maybe he'll think your destiny is fulfilled."

"Maybe?"

"Worth a shot, isn't it?"

"But how do we defeat this monster?"

"I'll show you how."

**A/N: Sorry it's so short! But Emma's got a plan to trick Rumpelstiltskin, so, that's something! As an added bonus, every 10th reviewer gets to suggest a prompt, so, get reviewing!**


	8. A Trick for the Dark One

**A/N: Sorry I didn't follow the schedule I said I would, I took a break from fanfiction. I will follow the schedule until the end of the month and then it will resume after summer.**

"You're kidding me, right?", asked Kate.

"Nope", replied Emma.

"A sword?"

"Yep."

"I'm more of a gun kind of gal."

"So was I. Doesn't work in this town."

"Guns always work. So do bombs. That's why I spent so much time either in jail or on the run from cops."

"Oh, you've been in jail too?", asked Emma.

"Yeah... you've been in jail?"

"Yep. In Phoenix. Henry's dad, Neal, let me take the fall for his crime so I could break the curse, and I got 11 months."

"Yeah, yeah, join the club", said Sawyer. "Back to your plan?"

"Right. Anyway, guns don't work on this monster, or as she prefers to be called, Maleficent."

"Maleficent? Like from Sleeping Beauty."

"Long story, but yeah."

"Okay, so, what do we do?"

"Stab her in the stomach with a sword."

"That's it?"

"Yeah. That's it."

**...**

Emma led everyone down into the basement of the library. Kate led with her sword, and Claire and Sawyer followed. Richard, Miles, and Lapidus took the rear, and Emma stood ready in case something went wrong. Kate ran forward with her sword and yelled, and a monster greeted her. Ducking the fire breath, she tried to stab it, and the others helped. After a while, they defeated it. Emma was just about to think of a story for Rumpelstiltskin when he came up behind them. "Congratulations, Ms. Swan. Very well thought out."

"Oh, come on", said Emma. "Really?"

"Yes, really."


	9. Why does it matter to you?

Rumpelstiltskin walked back to his shop, closely followed by Emma. She slammed the door and gave him an angry look.

"How did you know?"

"I know everything, dearie."

"Don't call me that! And why can't you just let them leave?"

"More importantly, dear, why does it matter to you?"

Unwilling to tell him the full truth, Emma said, "They're good people, and they just want to get home."

"Oh, there's more to it than that, dearie."

"Yeah, like what?"

"Why don't you tell me?"

"Fine. The reason I care whether you let them go home or not is because... because I never had a home. And they do. And they deserve to get back to it."

Rumpelstiltskin looked at her for a moment before replying. "A nice sentiment, dearie, but it can't fight destiny."

"Look, if being here is their destiny, they'll find their way back here, the way I got here to break the curse. Then I'll believe you. But for now, how about we let them go?"

Rumpelstiltskin appeared at a loss for words. "Very well, dearie, tell them they can leave."

"Thank you", said Emma, walking away.

**...**

"Really? We can go?", Claire asked, hardly daring to believe it.

"Yep", said Emma.

"What did you say to get him to let us go?", asked Miles.

"None of your business", said Emma. "Anyway, goodbye."

"Bye, Emma", said Kate. "And thanks."

"No problem", Emma replied.

And then she watched as they walked away in the direction of the town line.

**A/N: Don't worry, the story's not over yet!**


	10. Favors

_3 months later_

Kate hadn't stopped thinking about Emma, about what she had done to get them allowed to leave. They were surprisingly similar, Kate realized. She also realized she owed Emma a favor. She had to talk to the others, but she believed a visit to Storybrooke was in order.

* * *

><p><em>1 week later<em>

"Henry, get back here!", Emma yelled. She was tired of running after her son. After Pan had nearly cast another curse, and they had stopped it, ironically using something their visitors had taught them, Henry had grown more and more energetic, to the point that it was difficult to keep track of him. Suddenly, a car drove up beside them. She looked over. Was that... no. It couldn't be. But it was. She was getting out now.

"Kate?"'

"Emma!"

"What are you doing here?"

"We realized we owed you a favor."

"We?"

Claire got out of the car as well, a little boy holding her hand. "Hi, Emma."

"Is this Aaron?"

"Yes, this is Aaron."

"Thanks for coming... is it just you three?"

"No one else wanted to come. They're all busy with their own lives."

"Well, probably a good idea. This is a crazy town. We've all nearly died several times since you left. We even went to Neverland for a week."

"Cool!"

"Not cool. Peter Pan is Rumpelstiltskin's father, not to mention a psycho maniac. It does explain a lot, though."

"Ok... Well, anyway, we felt we owed you a favor, so... anything you want?"'

"As of now, not really. But you could stay until the next crazy villain comes."

"They'll be another?"

"I'm sure of it. It does seem to be a side effect of my mom being pregnant, and she is again, so... "

"Oh really?"

"Yeah."

"Where's Belle?", asked Claire. "I want to say hi."

"Probably in Gold's shop. They got married."

"Really? That's great!"

"Yeah."

They drove off, and Emma just smiled, completely and utterly confused.

**A/N: Kind of a dumb reason, but they're back. Should I bring the others back as well, or keep it at just Kate, Claire, and Aaron? Review me with your thoughts!**


	11. A New Crazy Villain

Emma knocked on the door of the room Kate and Claire had been staying in for the past week. Kate opened it. "Hi?"

"The next villain's here."

"Already?"

Emma laughed. "We don't mess around in this town."

"Clearly. Who is it?"

"The Wicked Witch of the West."

Kate raised her eyebrows. "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Okay then. Any idea what she wants?"

"My parent's new baby."

* * *

><p>Emma went back into the apartment. "I got our new guests to help us with the witch." She looked up and saw Zelena. "Who's this?"<p>

"Oh, Emma, this is Zelena", Snow introduced. "She's my new midwife."

"Oh. Okay."

* * *

><p>Kate waited for Claire to come back, watching Aaron play with Alexandra, Cinderella's daughter. When she returned, Kate didn't beat around the bush. "We need to leave."<p>

"What?"

"This place is crazy. It's not safe for Aaron."

"Kate, we owe them. You said so yourself."

"I know, but... he's 3, Claire. We can't have him here with the new villain here."

"There are a lot of babies here. They're fine."

"Claire, don't you feel a strange air around this town."

"Yes. But I pay what I owe."

"The others owe it too. Especially James."

"So have him come back. We could use help on this one."

**A/N: I know it's short, but it's been forever since I updated and I really wanted to get something out. So, I hope you like it! I might go back to the schedule I said I would use before summer, but don't count on it. Pleas read and review!**


	12. Wicked Intentions

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?", Emma asked.

"Don't question me", James replied. "I know how to get something I want."

As soon as he left, Emma ran back to the sheriff's station and set up the computer. If this worked, they would have everything they needed. But that was a big "If". The surveillance equipment he was wearing would relay everything he saw and heard back to them. So if he could get the witch to tell him her plan, they could figure out how to stop her. He walked up to the farmhouse and knocked on the door. And the person who answered made Emma feel sick. It was her. Zelena. The woman who was playing midwife to her mother.

There was complete silence for a moment. Then... "Why do you look like that Charlotte chick?"

"Who? I'm sorry, I have no idea what you are talking about."

"How come so many people in this town look like people we know?"

"Um... No idea. Sorry. Bye." She started to close the door, but he stopped her.

"Whatever. Either way, I wanna know what it is you're up to."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the people of this town seem to think you want to hurt them."

"Not _all _of them. Just Regina. With... perhaps, some collateral damage."

"Regina?"

"My sister. Well, my half-sister."

"Your... what?"

"What's it to you? I'm _not _going to hurt the town, you're safe, and I don't care to get into personal matters."

"Fine. Just... one more thing."

She sighed. "Yes?"

"Wanna have a drink?"


	13. Information Hunt

"I cannot believe I'm doing this", James said.

"Well, Emma didn't ask you to ask Zelena out on a date", Kate pointed out. "That was all you."

"And it was a bad idea!"

"That's your problem. The point is, now you can get the information you need."

"_I _don't need it. They do. Why am I helping them again?"

"Because Emma convinced that other guy to let us go, and we owe her a favor."

"But we wouldn't have been trapped in the first place if she hadn't taken us to him! We could've just left!"

"Then we'd have never found our way to LA."

"You know, you infuriate me sometimes."

"I know. Have fun on your date!"

He made a face before walking out.

* * *

><p>He sat in the bar and waited for Zelena, half wanting to throw up at the thought of going on a date with her. But if he could get her drunk enough, she would talk.<p>

She came in and sat down next to him, and he ordered two drinks. He drank his slowly, but she drank hers rather quickly. He kept going until she was quite drunk, but he was still mostly sober. Then he began to question her.

"Why do you want revenge on Regina?"

"Because our mother liked her better and kept her and it's not fair cause she got everything I ever wanted."

"So you're just jealous?"

"Cheated out of what I deserve."

"Right, whatever. And what do you plan to do to her?"

"Make it so she was never born."

"And how do you plan to do that?"

"Time travel. Duh."


	14. Stopping the Plan

"Time travel?", Emma asked.

"Yeah. Just warning you, I've traveled in time before, and there was a chick who looked just like this lady, and she died, plus the whole time travel thing went badly."

"Ok. Well, thanks for the help."

"You're welcome." He walked away, and Emma went to Regina's house to tell her the news.

* * *

><p>Regina opened the door to the line "Your half-sister wants to erase your existence."<p>

What a thing to hear at 6 o'clock in the morning.

Henry, who had (of course) been eavesdropping, came down. "Mom, you have a half-sister?"

"No... maybe... what? Whoever that is, what does erasing my existence mean? Killing me?"

"No, using time travel to make sure you were never born."

"Time travel?", Regina said, incredulous, "Can't be done."

"Well Zelena obviously thinks it can."

"How did you even find out?"

"James went on a date with her and got her drunk."

Regina looked impressed. "Nice tactic."

"Yeah, apparanetly he was a con man. Anyway, we have to stop her."

"Yes, we do. But how are we going to do that?"

* * *

><p>"Why do you always come to me with book stuff?", Belle asked, annoyed. "I can do other things too."<p>

"Yeah yeah. We need to know more about Zelena's plan, and I think I know how, but I need you help."

"Alright", Belle said resignedly. "How?"

"I need to talk to my mother."


	15. Creepy Magic

"So how are you stopping the plan exactly?" James asked.

"Just a little talking to the dead," Emma replied.

'"You can do that?"

"Apparently."

"Who are you gonna talk to?"

"Regina's mother."

"And how does it work?"

"Something involving the murder weapon that killed her."

"Which was?"

"A candle."

"What?"

"Long story."

"Who killed her?"

"My mom. As revenge for killing her mom. It's kind of a feud between our families... but it's been resolved. Kinda."

"Y'all have really weird lives."

"Yeah... Well anyway, see you later."

"See you... I guess."

* * *

><p>They all gathered around the table to speak to Cora. Nothing happened for a while, then her ghost came out of the candle and started chasing Snow, eventually invading her. When it left, Snow said, "I know Zelena's plan."<p> 


	16. Ingredients of Evil

"She wants to kill my mother," said Snow.

"Why?"

"My mother told my father that Cora was pregnant with another man's baby, causing him to... um... call off their wedding."

"They were going to be married?!" Regina practically exploded.

"Uh... yes... apparanetly." She shuddered. "Anyway, Cora would get to keep Zelena, and I would never be born."

"And neither would Henry," Regina said.

"Or me," said Emma.

"Right. Or you. Or... me. Over half the people in this room."

Belle raced into the room. "I know what Zelena needs for her plan."

"What?"

"Courage, love, wisdom, and innocence."

"Odd."

"Yes. She has David's sword - courage. She has Rumple's brain - wisdom. She wants... I guess the baby is innocence. And love... she wants Regina's heart."

"Oh goody."

* * *

><p>"Wait, she wants her heart?" Kate asked.<p>

"Yeah."

"So she _does _want to kill you."

"No. My heart isn't even in my body."

"Huh?"

"Explain later. Can you, or can you not, track people? Ruby's MIA right now."

"Yeah, I can."

"Awesome. Can you find Zelena's hideout or whatever?"

"Maybe."

* * *

><p>"Wow."<p>

"A compass."

"Yeah."

"Where is she, though?"

"Who knows?"

Regina suddenly frowned. "She has my heart."

"How do you know?"

"I can feel it. Robin, you had one job!" (A/N: Robin still got to SB because Zelena still cursed everyone in the EF to SB, even though they never went back.)

"That means... Just one ingredient left," said Snow, placing her hand on her stomach.

"Our baby."


End file.
